Dylan, Mellencamp Booked For White House's Civil Rights Music Celebration

Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson and John Legend will perform at "In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement," which airs on PBS on February 11th. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle will host the Black History Month special from the White House's East Room. Morgan Freeman and Queen Latifah will emcee the event, which will also feature performances by Seal, Natalie Cole, the Blind Boys of Alabama and more artists to be announced soon.

Past "In Performance at the White House" specials have featured Aretha Franklin, Merle Haggard and Stevie Wonder, President Obama's "musical hero" and the first to be honored by an "In Performance" during Obama's presidency. As Rolling Stone reported last month, President Obama was on hand to witness the Kennedy Center Honors' tribute to Bruce Springsteen. Eddie Vedder, Sting, Melissa Etheridge and Ben Harper all performed E Street classics at the Kennedy Honors.

Related Stories:
• Bruce Springsteen Honored at Kennedy Center By Mellencamp, Vedder, Sting
• Eddie Vedder, Jon Stewart Pay Tribute to Bruce Springsteen at the Kennedy Center Honors
• Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind And Fire to Rock the White House

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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